The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1887-10-13

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Opment Of the ages it has deepened Il
foundations and broadened its roof
until it contains, even in the humblest
the tokens of a civilization which ha
SO far as lies III the range Of physica
powers drawn all men closer together
and makes US to sit down to our break
fast tables in communication, eithe
through what we eat or what we read
with the four corners of the earth.
And in this home, thus developer
from its prototype, men would hold tn
woman of to-day in the position of TIN
woman Of long ago. Do you wonde
they are finding the task a difficult
one?
When each day brings to her ears tn,
call Of suffering humanity and en-
shaved and outraged womanhOod say
ing "enlarge the boundaries OF thy hab
itatiOn, take in the homeless and de
'spairlng," think you the thoughtfu
women of this and other lands are long
or to be held back by the fear O
getting out of woman's sphere?''
Miss Mulock in an article concerning
men, in recent number of the Forum
expresses this Outgrown sentiment
when she says: Mature sets herself
against it absolute equality between
men and women) by the inherent de
breast, to look up to some one greater
than themselves physically and men
tally, to whom they can cling, on whom
they can rely without any sense of in
feriority. Not merely to love, but
to worship, to make herself mat fol-
the mans feet to walk over, to be
lieVe everything he does and says is
right, to be ready to live or die for
him and merge her own identity COM
pletely in his; this, l think, is the in
stinct of woman, or, at least, of the
noblest half of womankind. 1t is ma
ture; and nature we may allow, is oc-
casionally right" and so forth ad
nauseam.
If these setters-forth of the I'M
of nature would but
look little deeper into nature herself
as taught by her most reVerent
friends. they would find no such i'm
mutability as they rely upon when they
prophesy that, because certain thing
is so, it is nature, and being nature it
must remain 50.
AS a rule. these unfortunates who
begin their career by not
merely loving, but by worshiping
some man, by believing every thing he
does and says must be right, by being
ready to live or die for him and to
either by becoming inmates of our
Magdalen Homes, or walk our streets
as pitfalls to the men who lack the
power to hold the citadel of their man
hood against temptations, and finally
pass onward out Of the hands of their
protectors either by the gateway of the
wages of sin or put an end to their
career of slowing and trusting" as
Zone more unfortunate" And these
poor girls, whom the thoughtless and
dependent woman scOrnS, whom the
Independent womanly woman pities
and yearns over, these who have been
willing to make Of themselves mats for
mems feet to walk upon, these whose
deserted children fill our founding asy-
lums, or grow up on our streets to swell
the ranks Of vagrancy and crime, these
Miss MULCH tells as form the noblest
part of Womankind."
Miss MULCH herself, even to the
matter of her signature, is careful not
to merge her own identity in that of
her husband, for she signs this article,
1.-THE Author of John Halifax, Gentle
man." a novel written by her before
her marriage. Miss MULCH could no
more merge herself in Mr.. Craik than
Pixies Peak can hide behind the foot
hills.
Woman has been educated, land she
owes this to the average mans blind and
selfish prejudicesl to defy the beauty
of self-sacriflce at the expense of a
proper appreciation of the beauty and
use of self-respect.
Sacrifice always on the one hand is
apt to breed selfishness on the other
party of the firm, and neither should be
surprised at the resulting development
of tyranny and unconscious sycOphan-
cy. One may sacrifice selfish desires
at any time, and need never fear for
the result, but the constant sacrifice of
of culture and usefulness
outside the narrower line of home can
lead but to one thing-an empty mind
incapable of approaching or bearing a
part in the great deeds of the world
for which our modern civilization offers
such glorious opportunity.
The self-respect which, while careful
to respect the rights of another, is
equally conscientious in standing up
for itself, both for its own sake and
for the sake of the would-be trans.
gressor-this it is that the education
of the great majority of women fails Il
create.
The old cry of ''only a girl'' is not
yet entirely obsolete, even on this side
of the sea, and in the old world the
sentiment it expresses is still the pre-
vailing one.
In the families where the girls begiI
life on this basis, what better results
know of one which occurs Il
me as typical-a family in which
the brother and sister, yer.
nearly the same age were pursuing
their education in the boys high schoO
and girls normal school respectively
The mother with the care of seyera
Younger children on her hands, and il
delicate health, had frequent necessit,
to help at home and the daughter wa
quite often kept away from school t.
assist in running the home machinery
while brother" must not be detaine,
from his class, lest he lose his stand
ing. What was the result? The DO
graduated with honor-the girl, equal
diiirent, and with really more menta
capacity, failed to pass her eXamin
| alton, was naturally disheartened-
tried again, and failed again. Thin
of beginning ones life handicapped b
this miserable sense of failure, and tn
parents did not realize that they ha
contributed to this loss of self-respec
would not wish to be understood a
painting the picture of all homes, bU
do believe, from many l have seer
| that this, IN many cases unconscious
setting aside of the girls plans an
preferment Of the boys is rich SourC
of pride and selfishness on the part {
the same boy, grown to manhood, an
that to it may also be traced, largely
the timidity and lack of ability {
many women to hold their own in th
worlds battle.
If men only knew how often wome
suffer through small Sights and setting
aside of their opinions and wishe
| fathers and husbands might
more careful-even from Sc
| fish motive, if from no highe
for the whole tone of family life is Low
cred by lack of the highest self-r
spect on the part of the mother.
YOU recognize in higher planes viii
| we are forced to do in dealing wit
material things, that the Guiete
forces are also the greatest, may v
not form a faint conception of VIII
the power of a constant and careful 7
spect for the individuality and persol
al rights of woman would do towal
raising the standard of family life al
rendering more pure and tender tho
relations which, while they are GALE
most sacred, are in too many cas-
only cloak for a system of petty ty
amy and selfshneSs.
Let us start boy and girl on pI
| ciSelY the same basis. Let them knC